John, who will close out Bonnaroo 2014 with a Sunday-night show, has performed in Nashville several times over the last few years. But the Bonnaroo appearance will be his first — and it marks his first-ever U.S. music festival show. It comes a year after another knighted Brit, the prestigious Sir Paul McCartney, headlined the four-day festival.

The band is touring in support of their 2013 album "Bankrupt!" and headlined the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival earlier this year. They're among a select few acts that have been invited to perform at Bonnaroo in consecutive years - 2009 and 2010.

There are certainly worse ways to spend your Sunday evening than sitting in a lawn chair, listening to Phoenix wrap up a set with their dancefloor-rock masterstroke “1901.”

We took in the first half of the French rockers' Bonnaroo 2010 performance marveling at the controlled chaos surrounding the Which Stage -- in addition to a much larger crowd than that stage normally receives, particularly on closing night.

A torrent of red and black balloons filled the air, a patch of revelers waved pool noodles (possibly swiped from Centeroo’s mock beach), and a massive Canadian flag waved triumphantly, for some reason. Bonnaroo’s organizers said they brought Phoenix back to the festival for the second year in a row due to so many people naming them as the best band they saw there in 2009. You didn’t have to hear more than a verse of opener “Lisztomania” to see why.

It’s impossible not to love singer Thomas Mars’ wounded croon, but their drummer -- confoundingly still not an “official” member of the band -- routinely steals the show, even when you’re watching from afar. We wouldn’t be surprised at all to see Phoenix brought back frequently in the years to come -- and here’s hoping they’ll be given the main stage slot they deserve.

Click to see a photo gallery of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Bonnaroo (this image: Shelley Mays/The Tennessean).

Bruce Springsteen. James Brown. Tom Petty. B.B. King.

For a festival that many associate with a college-aged crowd, the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival has welcomed more than its share of performers in their 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s over the years. This year, R&B legend Stevie Wonder shares the fest’s coveted Saturday night slot with rap superstar Jay-Z. At their best, these sorts of bookings can connect musical veterans with a new audience -- and turn young music lovers on to classic sounds while coaxing many middle-aged fans out of suburbia and back onto festival grounds.

Rick Farman of Bonnaroo co-producers Superfly Productions says the festival is “an opportunity to check one of those legends off your list.”

“When we had James Brown (in 2003), there were a lot of people who saw him that year that were like, ‘Wow, I got to see James Brown.’ If he was playing at an arena or amphitheater or club near them, would they necessarily go out and buy a ticket? Maybe not. But because it’s at a festival and they’re coming to see 20 or 30 other bands, they’re really excited to see that act.”

While Wonder and reggae figurehead Jimmy Cliff will perform on Bonnaroo’s biggest stage, there are many more veteran acts holding court in Bonnaroo’s mid-sized tent stages. Jeff Beck, Kris Kristofferson, John Prine and Steve Martin are sharing lineups with artists just a fraction of their age — and if Bonnaroos past are any indication, they’ll be just as warmly received.Continue reading →

This year’s installment of Vanderbilt's Rites of Spring festival brought rapidly rising hip-hop name Drake, indie-scene standouts Phoenix, Passion Pit and Cold War Kids, R&B newcomer Melanie Fiona, laid-back folk-rock star Ben Harper and JJ Grey and Mofro to the school's Alumni Lawn on Friday and Saturday, April 23-24. Click the image below to see a gallery of photos from the fest.

Click to see a gallery of photos from Vanderbilt's Rites of Spring festival (this image of Drake: Alan Poizner/for The Tennessean).

Click headliner Drake to see the lineup of this year's Rites of Spring festival.

Last year, Vanderbilt’s Rites of Spring brought a headlining set from T.I., a prison-bound rap veteran who was days away from lockup. (Read a review of that set HERE.)

This year’s marquee name, Drake, is singing a very different tune — he’s all but guaranteed to explode out of the gate as the genre’s newest superstar when his debut album drops in June. The Toronto native and former teen actor has managed to be hailed as hip-hop’s modern savior via a handful of wildly promising singles.

The festival is set to kick off at 3 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, April 23-24, at the Alumni Lawn at Vanderbilt University (2201 West End Ave.). Weekend passes run $55 in advance, $65 at the gate, $30 for Vanderbilt students with ID.

Sondre Lerche’s charming, old-fashioned way with a pop melody — matched with a jittery modern rock delivery — has kept the Norwegian songsmith on the cusp of a breakthrough in the United States for a good six years.

Considering the sophisticated strengths of last year’s Heartbeat Radio and a recent Grammy win for the similarly veined French band Phoenix, we think that breakthrough could still be on the horizon.

Lerche comes through Nashville on Saturday, Feb. 13, for a show at 12th & Porter (114 12th Ave. N., 320-3754).

It starts up at 8 p.m., and tickets are $18 in advance, $20 on the day of the show.

Tickets are priced at $30 for Vandy students (limit one ticket per student) and weekend passes for the general public will cost $55 in advance, $65 day of show.

Tickets will go on sale to the public Monday, February 22 at 10 a.m. CST at all Ticketmaster locations, online at ticketmaster.com or by calling (615) 255-9600. If you want to avoid service fees, you can also buy tickets at the Sarratt Box Office on the Vanderbilt campus. For general event information, call (615) 322-2471.